Time for a review ?

[jock]

 I wonder if it's time for a discussion on the state of our forum....To me, we seem to have lost the plot a bit...I mean the principle of the forum is in the title.."Aussie Caravan, Motorhome, Camping and Travellers Forum" yet very little, if any of the lately  posts seem to be relating to Camping or travelling etc. etc....No or very little posts and discussion on trips or camping topics...Also, where is everyone?  for the last few months only a mere handful of the regulars are contributing and if it wasn't for O.T. prolifically  generating all sorts of topics, I suspect we'd go for days - maybe weeks without posts.

      Dont get me wrong.. I bring this up as a personal observation hoping that it may generate some useful discussion..certainly dont want to offend anyone...What do you think?

  Jock

       

[Old Techo]

Thanks for raising this Jock as it has bothered me for quite some time

It is true that I often post misc items solely to stimulate activity.  Although some may be of general interest I would not post them if the forum was busier.

New member applications occur but are infrequent and most are not genuine when queried.

[stoney]

Are we getting any new members. Most of us oldies have done the caravan items thoroughly.

Also there are a growing number of caravan forums on Facebook. FB forums are easy to find. There are general forums and specific brand forums.

[jr]

Is the forum very easy to find on google as if people go looking for caravan forums will ours show up?
I personally like technical discussion on caravans and as most of use have been there done that there is not many topics that we have not seen before.
I personally have used the other forum sometimes just to see if there is any technical stuff but it has a few dominant members that think they know best and the other forum are going over many subjects that have been repeated and repeated again.

JR

[Frank and Brenda]

I for one prefer this forum to another where you get shouted down if you mention certain things (some you can be banned for mentioning them) or mentioning cheap items that you use such as the Glacio fridge I fitted to my van i was told that for that sort of money it had to be rubbish
Many years ago I was called a fool for fitting "cheap Chinese shit batteries that wouldn't last a year and if I wanted to go AGMs Fullriver was the only way to go"
To these ex-spurts it will only work if you spend a fortune on anything
I've never been challenged on a choice of item here, I'm treated on this forum as I would treat any other member, with respect
I'm in another forum where a member has questioned the same thing and in that forum there's 3 or 4 threads used daily, I spend time on these 2 and read most threads and comment on a few, the other forum I look in on but rarely say something

[jclures]

I think I read most new posts on the forum, but I do not post as much as others.

[loub]

Like JR posted maybe the name could be the issue in a imfo search. I have never done a search on this topic but if you did would ours come up at all.That would make growing harder.Like others have posted Iam a member of that other site but rarely post because to castic.I also belong to a Golf Linwood site which is a bit like our own,quite small and specific on my van.

[bazza44]

Perhaps it is the age of most on this forum. From reading posts it seems that most are in mid seventy's and over. These people have usually got the van they want, or have modified to their needs so only have maintenance to do. I am 80 this year and our van is set the way we want so nothing to do on it.

As far as camping goes, in our case we have not been away since May last year because of doctors visits, hospital, dental, optometrist, weather etc. This might apply to others as well as we get older, so nothing new to report.

For finding us by doing a search I googled " Caravan Forums in Australia " and on my desktop computer using google chrome this forum was the fourth one listed, so not hard to find. 

I do read posts on this forum every day but have not had much to say myself for a while. Like has been mentioned by others I like the way respect is shown to others on this forum unlike a couple of others I look at now and again.

That's my thoughts anyway for what they are worth.

Barry      

[jock]

I agree, only partially, with Barry re most of us are in advanced years and have probably 'used up our need for discussion on caravanning/camping topics' but I cant see why there is not more robust discussion on things that we all are still interested in..like trip reports, camping spots, experiences, vehicles for towing or camping etc. etc.

Perhaps more introductory discussion on these topics might generate more members taking part. I did a rough count and we have approximately 180 registered members. Of these, 80 have never posted and a further 33 have posted less than 10 times and I guess that only about 15 (estimate) are regular posters. It is also noticeable that newer members have a flurry of initial posts then disappear into oblivion.

I, for one, have long ceased being a member or follower of the 'other' forums but it is interesting to note that they have quite a few regulars who are also members of this Forum.... I take the point that this Forum is far more congenial and respectful ...probably thanks to very careful moderators but maybe we need a bit more argumentative (without being abusive) discussion to stimulate more participation.

Just my thoughts...what do you think?

Jock

[Frank and Brenda]

Jock I think argumentative post are ok depending on the topic
Look at the recent thread on the voice, there were a few for the voice and they stayed pretty quiet because the were shouted down by me included, they had their say then backed off and had they not I could see the thread being moderated heavily
Some topics bring out the worst in people so any argumentative posts would have to stay away from politics and religion which seem to be the 2 topics that do bring out the worst in most of us
Apart from that what is there to argue about in a caravaning forum? 🙄
Oh hang on
AGM versus lithium
WDH do you need them or not? Running your van on 12v versus 240v
Oh let me count the ways

You only have to look at Facebook caravan forums to see how quickly it can escalate
I think the forum Is showing a downturn in favoritism towards Facebook and other social media forums just as many others have
I belong to Shadow Riders Australia forum who also opened a Facebook page,  the last post on the forum was from me when I sold the bike a few moths back in October the previous one was Feb 23, then November 22
I rarely posted on their FB page

[jock]

Yeah..good post Frank...I'm a bit surprised that only a couple have contributed to this thread.

Jock

[legendts]

Thinking about this thread has me starting to wonder about posting up our trip last year to WA. I generally won’t put too much about a trip whilst away due to not wanting to advertise that we aren’t home. I know with this forum it may not be an issue, but just being cautious.

[gerrym]

If things get real tough, someone could eat humble pie and ask the Light Rail Enthusiast to join.

But I am not offering.

[Frank and Brenda]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

[nsgnomad]

Jeff, (legendts) I for one would be interested in hearing about your WA trip. It is always good to find out what other people think about various places and their experiences. Both good and bad. Sharing after the event is no risk.